Parsons primed for Six Nations opener as world champions await
By Daire Walsh
Ballinasloe’s Béibhinn Parsons is looking to start off the 2026 edition of the Women’s Six Nations Championship with a bang at Twickenham this Saturday (2.25pm).
Back on November 18, 2018 in a test encounter against the USA at Energia Park in Dublin, Parsons made history by becoming the youngest Irish senior international rugby player, female or male, at the tender age of 16. After playing the final seven minutes of that game, Parsons entered the fray as a 69th-minute replacement when Ireland lost out to England in a subsequent fixture at Twickenham just six days later.
Fast forward a little under eight years and Parsons is now expected to pick up her 32nd cap in international 15s rugby when Scott Bemand’s side pay a visit to world champions England in the opening round of this year’s Six Nations at the London venue.
It is anticipated a stellar crowd will be in attendance for this meeting of two old rivals and Parsons views this as a perfect way for the Ireland women to get up and running in 2026.
“I think it’s cool to start the campaign off with a bang in Twickenham. That’s going to be an incredible day and I know they’re going to aim to have as many tickets sold for that. Start off with a bang and then the grand finale in the Aviva will be really cool,” Parsons remarked at a recent Women’s Six Nations media day in the head office of team sponsor Aon.
“Obviously none of us have ever played there, but we’ll all been there and supported the lads there. I think it will be a real ‘pinch me’ moment. I think the feeling when you go across the water to England, they’re so behind their women’s teams and you really feel that. You feel the energy and the noise,” she continued.
As Parsons makes reference to above, Ireland will conclude their Six Nations campaign in 2026 with a showdown against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, May 17. This is set to be a landmark occasion as it will be the first time for the Ireland women’s rugby team to play a standalone international at the Ballsbridge venue.
“If you had told me back when I got my first cap that I might someday play in the Aviva, I definitely wouldn’t have believed you. I think it’s a tribute to Irish rugby and women’s rugby and the IRFU, of how far we’ve come, that this is now a standalone fixture for us,” said Béibhinn.
“We know the weight of that as a team and we’re going to want to go there and put out a performance. Really prove that we deserve to play in places like the Aviva.”
Yet there is another game in the upcoming window that Parsons is looking forward to with the same level of excitement, if not greater. On Saturday week (April 18) at 5.40pm, Ireland will welcome Italy to Dexcom Stadium in Galway for their first home game of the Championship.
Considering the newly-revamped Dexcom Stadium is based in her native county – and is located roughly 40 minutes from her home town of Ballinasloe – Parsons can’t wait to get going in that particular fixture.
“That will definitely feel like a home game. I think my whole family and everyone I know will be there, so I really can’t wait. Obviously Dexcom has had a facelift and it’s just a lovely stadium, dressing rooms and the grandstand. I really can’t wait to play there.”
While she did feature prominently for Ireland at the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England, Parsons is set to make her Six Nations return following a two-year absence. After suffering a broken fibula when Ireland lost to Australia in a quarter-final bout at the Olympic Games in July 2024, she also broke her leg towards the end of the same year during a HSBC Sevens Cape Town event with Irish team.
Missing out on the 2025 Championship was a set-back for the Blackrock College and Connacht winger, but she now feels back up to speed with international rugby after helping Ireland to reach the last eight of last year’s World Cup. Although they narrowly missed out on a spot in the penultimate phase of the RWC courtesy of a five-point reversal to France, Parsons believes there are lessons for the squad to take from their experience at the tournament.
“It’s class to get a good few games under your belt and to build your confidence. To get through the whole World Cup campaign injury free was great for me. It’s nice to be able to go into a full campaign and not feel anyway compromised or having any niggles,” she said.
“I think right afterwards as the dust settles, you can reflect on it [the World Cup] a lot more. At the time you’re like ‘jeez, we should have had that win against France and we could have gotten to a semi-final and it was all there right in front of us for the taking’.
“I think instantly you feel really hurt and down, but as the dust settles you realise we’ve a full squad now with World Cup experience under their belts. We’ve built so much and grown so much as a squad. I think we’ve so many learnings that we took from that. We’re going to bring that in and build on that momentum now,” Parsons added.
Ireland (vs England): Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Linda Djougang; Dorothy Wall, Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan, Erin King (captain), Aoife Wafer. Replacements: Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Eilís Cahill, Ruth Campbell, Grace Moore, Katie Whelan, Nancy McGillivray, Anna McGann.